UK Tax Agent Requirement Waived For Gibraltar, IoM Gaming Firms

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

10 September 2014

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed that it has reached agreements with
Gibraltar and the Isle of Man to enable businesses in those territories to not appoint a tax representative
in the UK. The announcement concerns businesses affected by the upcoming changes to the UK's regime for remote gaming
duty (RGD), pool betting duty (PBD), or general betting duty (GBD) from December 1, 2014.

From December 1, 2014, the UK will begin taxing bookmakers' profits on a "place
of consumption" basis, as part of reforms lined up by the Government to
secure revenues from the offshore gaming industry's activities in the UK market.

In a notice on September 8, 2014, HMRC said that any
business that is not in a group and is based outside the European Union must appoint a tax representative if they will be liable to the aforementioned UK levies after the December 1 change, with some exceptions.

HMRC explained: "Gibraltar authorities have agreed to enforce any UK gambling
duty debts incurred by operators based in Gibraltar. As such, operators based
in Gibraltar are not required to appoint a representative in the UK. The UK
has reached an agreement in principle along similar lines with the Isle of Man. As such operators based in the Isle of Man are not expected to require a representative
at this time."

"The UK is currently engaged in discussions with
the states of Guernsey and Alderney with a view to making a similar agreement.
As yet, discussions are at an early stage," it said.

HMRC has published new Notices on the administration of each of the taxes after December 1, 2014: GBD in Notice 451A,
PBD in Notice 147A, and RGD in Notice 455A.

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